Question

Read the excerpt from Act V, scene iii of Romeo and Juliet.

Friar Laurence: Stay not to question, for the watch is coming; Come, go, good Juliet.—[Noise again.] I dare no longer stay.

Juliet: Go, get thee hence, for I will not away. [Exit FRIAR LAURENCE.] What’s here? a cup, clos’d in my true love’s hand? Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end. O churl! drunk all, and left no friendly drop To help me after! I will kiss thy lips; Haply, some poison yet doth hang on them, To make me die with a restorative. [Kisses him.] Thy lips are warm!
First Watch: [Within.] Lead, boy: which way?

Juliet: Yea, noise? then I’ll be brief. O happy dagger! [Snatching ROMEO’S dagger.]

Which phrases from the passage are oxymorons?

Check all that apply.

true love’s hand

happy dagger

good Juliet

lips are warm

timeless end

Answer 1

happy dagger
and timeless end

Answer 2

timeless end

happy dagger

Step-by-step explanation:

Oxymoron is the figure of thought which refers to the conjunction of normally incompatible terms. These terms, although in opposition, create an alternative meaning within a literary context, which takes place in this excerpt of the theatrical representation of Romeo and Juliet. Timeless and end are opposites, the first concept refers to something perpetual and the second to the culmination of something. In the case of happy dagger, the instrument alluded is usually associated to death which is not a happy event. The presence of oxymoron in this context expresses, among other things, the conflict and contradiction in Juliet's feelings.